Job Market Monitor
Politics & Policies
Australia – Employability Skills Training Consultation Paper
In the 2016-17 Budget, the Australian Government announced an $840 million Youth Employment Package to give young people the employability skills and real work experience they need to get a job. The package will deliver a new Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare – Trial – Hire) to support young job seekers into jobs. The Youth Jobs … Continue reading
Youth Unemployment – A systematic review of what improve labour market outcomes
This systematic review investigates the impact of training and skills development, entrepreneurship promotion, employment services, and subsidised employment interventions on the labour market outcomes of young women and men. The systematic and meta-analysis is based on evidence from 113 counterfactual-based impact evaluations of 107 active labour market programmes in 31 low-, middle- and high-income countries. … Continue reading
Minimum Wage in US – Only 5 percent of all employers believe the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) is fair
Three-quarters of Americans (75 percent) are living paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet, according to a survey from CareerBuilder. Thirty-eight percent of employees said they sometimes live paycheck-to-paycheck, 15 percent said they usually do and 23 percent said they always do. While making ends meet is a struggle for many post-recession, those with minimum wage jobs … Continue reading
Federal Minimum Wage in US – This week marks the seven-year anniversary of the last time it was raised
This week marks the seven-year anniversary of the last time the federal minimum wage was raised, from $6.55 to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. Since then, the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage has fallen by 10 percent as inflation has slowly eroded its value. However, this decline in the buying power of the … Continue reading
Latin America – Active labour market policies are needed to protect social achievements and address productivity gaps
At a time when governments in the region face the dual challenges of creating quality jobs and safeguarding achievements in social inclusion and work quality, an ILO report highlights the need for a new approach based on active labour market policies to address the current economic slowdown. A functional system of ALMPs in the region, … Continue reading
After Brexit Vote – The debate in other EU member states about the future of the institution may just be getting started.
A majority of the Greeks (68%) and pluralities of the Dutch (44%), Germans (43%), Italians (39%) and French (39%) all want some EU power returned to their national governments. Both the Dutch and the French have a history of holding referendums on major and not-so-major issues, and Euroskeptic parties in both countries have already voiced … Continue reading
Occupational Licensing in US – Who they are and the effects on wages and unemployment
Who is licensed? Using the newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it is possible to describe licensed workers and then examine a number of important economic implications of licensing. Licensing varies substantially by occupation. Legal, education, and healthcare occupations feature licensing at particularly high rates, as shown in Figure 1. Note that the increase … Continue reading
Paid Vacation Time around the World (Infographic)
As summer approaches, many of us have vacation on our minds. We’re ready to get out of the office and head towards a tropical location with our family or friends. Though the thought of getting away is exciting, it’s also stressful to think about all the work (and possibly pay) we’re leaving behind. Did you … Continue reading
Refugee in Germany – 100,000 new “working opportunities”
Last week, Germany’s legislature debated a new law on integration, the country’s first. It requires asylum seekers to take lessons in language, culture and values in exchange for faster access to the labor market. The government has promised to subsidize 100,000 new “working opportunities,” many of them low-paid workfare jobs. Labor laws will be relaxed … Continue reading
Pathways to Employment – There are multiple strategies local and regional leaders can use
Employment is down among everyone between the ages of 16 and 64—particularly among teens, but with a great deal of variation by geography, race, and education. The disparity between blacks and whites is especially stark. For example, unemployment among white young adults peaked at 14% in 2010—still considerably lower than unemployment rates for black young … Continue reading
Entrepreneurship and Job Creation – Predicting which firms will fail and which will succeed is nearly impossible
New firms account for a disproportionate share of aggregate job creation in advanced economies. Yet most firms fail, and it is immensely difficult to predict which firms will succeed. Policymakers can set the right conditions so that capital and other resources flow to firms with high growth potential, even if this implies initially supporting firms … Continue reading
Guaranteed Basic Income in Switzerland – 77% reject it
Swiss voters rejected by a wide margin on Sunday a proposal to introduce a guaranteed basic income for everyone living in the wealthy country after an uneasy debate about the future of work at a time of increasing automation. Supporters had said introducing a monthly income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,563) per adult and 625 … Continue reading
Higher Education – How much do students pay and the public support they receive
OECD countries differ significantly in the way spending on tertiary education is shared between public and private sources of funding, and in the financial support they provide to students. Countries with high tuition fees tend to also be those where private entities other than households make a more significant contribution to funding tertiary institutions. By … Continue reading
Minimum Wage – Any evidence of a negative employment effect is not robust
There is a huge body of empirical research on the employment effect of the minimum wage that has failed to clearly demonstrate the negative effect that so many economists strongly believe to find. This paper reviews the reasons for this and argues that the literature needs to re-focus to further our knowledge on the topic. … Continue reading
Career Education in Atlantic Canada – A report submitted to the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training
Canada’s youth unemployment continues to be disproportionately elevated, our student summer jobless rate has hit the highest level since data has been collected and our youth underemployment rates are the second highest among OECD countries as far too many young adults are caught in precarious, non-permanent jobs that are not commensurate with their education. The … Continue reading
